Paper clip



1954 w. E. STAGEBERG ,69

PAPER CLIP Filed May 7, 1951 31 rtor WILFRED E. STAGEB G attorney United States Patent PAPER CLIP Wilfred E. Stageberg, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Brown & Bigelow, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application May 7, 1951, Serial No. 224,923

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-66) My invention relates to a plastic paper clip designed primarily for simplicity and economy in the manufacture of the same. Each jaw of the paper clip is identical in formation, which simplifies the making of the molding die for the manufacture of this clip and permits the sides to be interchanged one with the other so that different colored plastic may be used on the same clip; that is, one jaw of the clip may be red and the other may be yellow or any combination of colors may be used thereby providing an attractive paper clip which is enhanced by the different colors of the jaws.

The plastic jaws of the paper clip are adapted to be held with the biting edges of the same pinched together by means of springs which are supported in grooves formed in the plastic jaws at each end of the clip.

A further feature of my plastic paper clip resides in the holding quality of the clip owing to the plastic jaws which engage with a firm bite on the articles held by the clip, and the nature of the plastic gripping edges is such that a greater friction is obtained on the paper or articles held by the clip than where the jaws of the clip are made of metal. The metal paper clips have metal jaws and naturally the metal is harder than plastic, and therefore it does not give the holding quality that I obtain with my plastic clip.

It is a material advantage in the manufacture of my clip to provide a construction which requires but a single mold for forming both gripping jaws of the clip. The mold is formed so that the meeting walls which form the hinge point of the clip have a recess which receives a short projecting pin from the adjacent meeting wall to hold the jaws of the clip in line and to permit them to rock on the hinge point without sliding or getting out of alignment.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, showing by way of example a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawings forming part of the application:

Figure 1 is a front longitudinal view of my clip.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is an end view of my clip in closed clamping position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 with the clamping jaws in open position.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the complete member forming half of the paper clip.

Figure 6 is a side view of the spring clip.

My paper clip A is composed of the clamping jaw members 10 and 11. Formed on the upper edge of the jaw members 10 and 11 are the longitudinal bearing flanges 12 and 13 respectively. The handle portions 14 and 15 are actually extensions of the jaw members 10 and 11 respectively and extend from the top surfaces of the longitudinal bearing flanges 12 and 13.

The inner free edges of the longitudinal bearing flanges 12 and 13 are formed with the rounded pin extension 16 and the recess 17. The recess 17 is reinforced by means of the fillet 18 which surrounds the recess 17. Extending upwardly from the recess 17 is the stop support member 19 having formed thereon the angular stop face portion 20. A stop support member 21 is also formed adjacent the opposite end of the jaw member extending above the pin extension 16 and may be integral with the handle portion 14. The stop support member 21 also has the angular stop face portion 22 formed in the same plane as the angular stop face portion 20.

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The inner free edge 23 of the longitudinal bearing flange 12 is adapted to bear against the longitudinal bearing flange 13 throughout its length for pivoting contact therewith, when the jaw members 10 and 11 are held together for operation. Each half of the clamp A is identical and is particularly illustrated in Figure 5. As a result, only one mold need be created to produce both halves of the clamp, which, due to my construction, cooperate together to form a complete paper clip. The jaw members 10 and 11 are pivotally positioned together by aligning the inner edges of the longitudinal bearing flanges 12 and 13 so that the pin extension 16 extends into the opposing recess such as 17 formed in the companion jaw member 11, and also with the pin extension formed on the jaw member 11 similar to the pin extension 16 positioned within the recess 17.

When the jaw members 10 and 11 are so positioned, the spring 24 may be forced over the outer ends of the clip A, the free ends 25 and 26 being forced into the grooves 27 formed in the outer flat face surface of the jaw members 10 and 11 to thereby position securely the springs 24 which urge the jaw members 10 and 11 together. The lower, inside corner edges of the jaw members 10 and 11 contact along with the biting edges 29 of the jaw members 10 and 11, and the edges 29 are separated by forcing the finger engaging portions 14 and 15 towards each other againstthe action of the springs 24.

The amount of opening of the jaws 10 and 11 is restricted by means of the contact made by the surfaces 20 and 22 of the stop support members 19 and 21, as particularly illustrated in Figure 4. Each spring 24 is formed with the loop 28, which urges the free ends 25 and 26 towards each other.

At the ends of the grooves 27 a nub 30 is formed which protects the free ends of the spring arms 25 and 26 by locating the ends of the spring 24 below the base of the nubs 30. This prevents the ragged ends of the spring 24 from contacting the operator in using the plastic clip A.

The jaws 10 and 11 are formed wholly of plastic in a single piece and are identical in formation and construct on, minimizing the cost of the molding dies. This simplified construction also permits the paper clips A to be assembled readily, and if it is desired, different colored taws may be assembled together to make my clip attrac- The springs 24 are of a sturdy construction to give a strong biting force to the edges 29 of the clip A. The clip 'A with the jaws 10 and 11 made of plastic has a material advantage in its use over the old type of metal clips owing to the fact that the biting edges 29 of the plastic jaws 10 and 11 have a greater frictional engagement with any articles held between the jaws. This is apparent even though the article engaged by my paper clip is as thin as a single sheet of paper.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth since these may be modified within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the sp1r1t and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a paper clip, a pair of flat thin elongated identical clamping aws, longitudinally extending bearing flanges formed on the extreme upper edge of each of said jaws and extending at substantially right angles to the plane of each jaw; each of said flanges having an outer free edge, each of said flanges having an arcuated recess therein and an arcuated projection thereon formed in spaced relationship on said outer free edge of each flange, said recess and said projection of one of said jaws adapted to coact with said projection and said recess of the other jaw, U-shaped spring members positioned on said jaws adjacent the ends thereof for urging the lower edges of said jaws together, handle portions extending from the juncture of said bearing flanges and said jaws and forming a part thereof, stop shoulder members formed on the outer face of said bearing flanges directly adjacent said recesses and projections substantially at right. angles thereto and formed with a stop face portion extending from the outer edge of the bearing flanges adapted to 3 contact ihe coacting oppositely disposed face portion to Number limit the movement of said jaws. 2,261;0OS 2,312,436 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,461,333 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,477,088

Number Name Date 7 356,127 Hoyt Jan. 18, 1887 Number 1,357,233 Hagelstein Nov. 2, 1920 596,141 2,255,467 -Kabrie1 Sept. 9, 1941 10 Name Date Thompson "Oct. 28, 1941 Oldham Mar. 2, 1943 Maccaferri Feb. 8, 1949 Robbins July 26, 194.9

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Dec. 29, 1947 

